{"id":455481,"date":"2026-09-06T15:54:18","date_gmt":"2026-09-06T15:54:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/455481\/"},"modified":"2026-09-06T15:54:18","modified_gmt":"2026-09-06T15:54:18","slug":"2-years-after-closure-california-approves-125-million-to-turn-decommissioned-bay-area-racetrack-into-162-acre-public-park","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/455481\/","title":{"rendered":"2 years after closure, California approves $125 million to turn decommissioned Bay Area racetrack into 162-acre public park"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The shuttered Golden Gate Fields racetrack, which closed in 2024 after decades on the <a href=\"https:\/\/secretsanfrancisco.com\/hayward-japanese-gardens-california\/\" rel=\"follow nofollow noopener\" target=\"_self\" class=\"shortcode-outbound-link\" data-has-ga=\"true\" data-ga-type=\"click\" data-label=\"https:\/\/secretsanfrancisco.com\/hayward-japanese-gardens-california\/\" data-action=\"text_cta_0\" data-category=\"click_internal\">East Bay<\/a> waterfront, is another step closer to its ambitious second act!<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Trust for Public Land (TPL) and the East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD) announced in March 2026 that they had secured an option agreement on the 162-acre property. Now, just a few days ago on August 31, California legislators approved $125 million toward its acquisition, marking the largest single funding milestone yet in the push to convert the site into a <a href=\"https:\/\/secretsanfrancisco.com\/san-francisco-best-parks-ranking\/\" rel=\"follow nofollow noopener\" target=\"_self\" class=\"shortcode-outbound-link\" data-has-ga=\"true\" data-ga-type=\"click\" data-label=\"https:\/\/secretsanfrancisco.com\/san-francisco-best-parks-ranking\/\" data-action=\"text_cta_1\" data-category=\"click_internal\">public park<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The property sits along a prominent stretch of East Bay shoreline between Albany and Berkeley. Turning it into a public park would link Albany Beach, Albany Bulb, McLaughlin Eastshore State Park, and Point Isabel Regional Shoreline into one connected system.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Planners envision a sprawling park that adds to the <a href=\"https:\/\/secretsanfrancisco.com\/san-francisco-bay-trail-waterfront-path\/\" rel=\"follow nofollow noopener\" target=\"_self\" class=\"shortcode-outbound-link\" data-has-ga=\"true\" data-ga-type=\"click\" data-label=\"https:\/\/secretsanfrancisco.com\/san-francisco-bay-trail-waterfront-path\/\" data-action=\"text_cta_2\" data-category=\"click_internal\">in-progress San Francisco Bay Trail<\/a>, restores tidal wetland habitats, offers new recreational amenities, and creates nature-based flood defenses to protect neighboring communities. Its location offshore from the 373-acre Brooks Island Regional Preserve would also factor into habitat restoration. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI am excited to partner with the East Bay Regional Park District to engage our community in reimagining the former racetrack as a vibrant public space, expanding opportunities to gather in community and experience the beauty of our shoreline,\u201d said Adena Ishii, Mayor, City of Berkeley. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cFrom kayaking and kite flying to sunset dining, Berkeley\u2019s waterfront parks are a treasured destination enjoyed by residents and visitors alike.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The newly announced $125 million state commitment is substantial, but it doesn\u2019t close the deal completely. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">EBRPD, TPL, and the Regional Parks Foundation are continuing to raise additional public and private funding in order to complete the acquisition, after which point EBRPD will receive the property for long-term public ownership.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\ud83c\udf10 Learn more: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ebparks.org\/projects\/future-planning\/future-golden-gate-fields-park\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"shortcode-outbound-link\" data-has-ga=\"true\" data-ga-type=\"click\" data-label=\"https:\/\/www.ebparks.org\/projects\/future-planning\/future-golden-gate-fields-park\" data-action=\"text_cta_3\" data-category=\"click_non_sales\">East Bay Regional Park District<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The shuttered Golden Gate Fields racetrack, which closed in 2024 after decades on the East Bay waterfront, is&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":455482,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[143,145,144,174662],"class_list":["post-455481","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-oakland","tag-oakland","tag-oakland-headlines","tag-oakland-news","tag-pressarticle"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/455481","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=455481"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/455481\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/455482"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=455481"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=455481"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=455481"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}